


Fresh Cups

by turtleeden



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, ShuAnnWeek2k19, by far the shortest one of the bunch, coffee and curry trivia is fun to read up on though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 05:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19457008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtleeden/pseuds/turtleeden
Summary: During a break in their study session, Akira brews two fresh cups of coffee for both him and Ann to taste. Offering to taste test for him may have been an attempt to escape studying on Ann's end, but Akira welcomes the distraction. Now, how will it taste...?(Day 3 Prompt: Coffee/Sweets)





	Fresh Cups

The distinct smell of fresh coffee lingered in the air, and it refreshed Akira’s mind as he poured his latest brew into two empty coffee cups. The steam from the fresh brew fogged his glasses some, but it soon faded as quickly as it came. Akira smiled a little to himself in anticipation, wondering how this latest attempt will go this time. He’s been having a good streak in his practice attempts so far, if Sojiro’s reactions were any indicator. ( _As much as the old man often comments that he still has a way to go, Akira noticed lately that Sojiro looked… impressed at the result when he tries his coffee. Maybe even a little prideful._ ) But Sojiro wasn’t his test partner for tonight. Instead… someone else was trying out his latest attempt.

Akira’s focus switched from the coffee cups to Ann, who was sitting at the bar across from him with an eager expression on her face. She was more than happy to leave the booth that was filled with both of their scattered notes and open textbooks. Offering to taste Akira’s coffee was, for the most part, an attempt of taking a break from studying for a while. Luckily for her it worked. Making coffee was always a nice distraction for Akira to do, but Ann being the one to try out his fresh brew made the anticipation inside of him grow. It was almost a little nervewracking, if he were to be really honest with himself. But he tried not to let those nerves show. After all, he’s happy to serve.

“Sugar in your coffee?” Akira asked her.

“Of course!” she replied.

“How many? A hundred?” His smile turned into a teasing grin as he said that.

“Yeah, right. Like you can fit that many in that cup.” Ann then scoffed, rolling her eyes at that little comment of his. Akira chuckled to himself after seeing her reaction.

“I’ll put three then. I don’t think you’ll need that many for this brew, but let me know if you want more.” 

With that said, Akira picked up one of the coasters and set it down close to Ann. Ann in turn moved the coaster closer to her and picked up the coffee cup by the handle. She blew on the surface so that it can cool a little, then raised the cup to her lips and took a slow, careful sip. Akira looked on in anticipation, awaiting her reaction before he would take up his own cup.

“Mmm…” Ann hummed to herself in delight as she allowed the taste to sink in. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed with a dreamy smile on her face. She greedily took a longer sip from her cup, squealing in her delight as she held a hand to her cheek.

“This tastes great…!” she said happily, before she finally set the cup back down on its coaster. “Between you and Boss, I might actually become a fan of coffee one of these days.”

“Careful. We might spoil you.” Akira said with a laugh.

“Then let me be spoiled! I’m sure not complaining about good drinks!” Ann countered, closing an eye at him as she took another sip of her coffee. “But wow, this cup… I knew coffee can have strong scents, but this one smells really strong.”

“The blend’s called Cuban Crystal Mountain. I practiced this one with Sojiro a few times,” Akira explained. “The scent is strong, but it’s also pretty sweet to taste. That’s why I said you didn’t need that much sugar. The blend does most of the work itself.”

“I didn’t even know that coffee could have a sweet taste to it! I always thought that coffee would always be bitter straight from the pot.” Ann admitted.

“Honestly? I did too. At least until I came here.” Akira admitted. He then took a sip from his own cup, tasting the results for himself. A pleased smile appeared on his lips as he nodded to himself. _Nice!_ It tasted good! With his judgement combined with Ann's approval, he can safely call this attempt a success now. 

“I learned a lot more about coffee than I thought I would,” Akira continued, setting his cup down. “Boss is a good teacher. It helps that his tips and trivia about certain blends are interesting too. It’s beginning to get to the point where I’m eager to move on to curry.”

“That’s good to hear. And it definitely looks like you’re really into it too!” Ann observed, smiling. “When I was watching you work on the coffee, you looked like you were really enjoying yourself. I mean, yeah, you totally know what to do, but I think you enjoying what you’re doing really gives this cup that extra kick. And it’s really good…”

Akira’s smile turned warmer as his gaze lingered on her, lifting his cup by the handle as he took another sip of his coffee. That empathy of hers strikes again… and she’s right. He does enjoy making coffee. He even likes practicing his craft whenever he found the time to do so. And when Sojiro would come in and try out his attempts… Akira actually feels a bit of pride whenever the old man would comment on his improvements. And he gets really engaged in the conversation when Sojiro gives him more tips on making good coffee. Akira enjoys what he does in this little cafe, and he never thought that he would enjoy it this much when he first came here.

“Think this is going to be your thing?” Ann then asked. Akira shrugged his shoulders before taking another sip of his coffee. 

“I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far ahead,” he answered. “But for now… I’m just going to enjoy what I do while I’m still here.”

“That’s cool,” Ann said, nodding a bit. “But if by any chance you do end up doing it… you’d definitely have a regular in me. Like I said… you and Boss might actually make me a fan of coffee if your cups are this good!”

“Heh… in that case, I’d definitely have a fresh cup waiting for you.” Akira commented in great confidence, winking at her for extra effect. 

“Maybe you could let me in on that curry too?” Ann hinted in a not-so-subtle way. “If you can make coffee taste this good, I wonder how your curry is gonna taste?”

“I’ll think about that. Maybe you could stop by when you’re hungry and I’ll have you taste test for me again.” Akira mused. He eventually came around the bar with his cup in his hands, heading back towards the booth with both of their notebooks still strewn about on the table. As fun and relieving as it was for Ann to taste his coffee, he hasn’t forgotten what she was really supposed to be here for.

“Come on, Ann. Break time’s over.” he called. “Back to hitting the books.”

“Huh? Already!?” Ann exclaimed. Her face immediately fell once she turned her head and saw him at the booth, dreading the thought of racking her brain over and over again in their study session. Where did they leave off before she got Akira to make some coffee? Math? _Ugh…_ She _really_ wasn’t looking forward to that.

“Can’t we just enjoy this a little more, Akira?” she asked pleadingly.

“You can bring your cup with you. And there’s still enough for a refill if you want it,” Akira pointed out, beckoning her over to the booth. “Come on… you called me to help you out, remember?”

“Ughhhhhhh, fine…” Ann groaned in defeat, hanging her head down low.


End file.
